My Jaguar S-Type. Will it ever be a classic?

Not, the glamorous choice of villains and rozzers, but the 1999 Geoff Lawson beauty - which is how it is increasingly looking. Out from under the carping about being a Mark 2 rip off, it is a gem in its own right. Particularly with the AJV8 4-litre and 17 inch Jaguar sport wheels. Mine also boasts a mesh grill - an old Jaguar recommendation to keep the car running cooler. Hah.

But as yet, it lurks in the twilight zone between second hand would-be scrap and any recognition at all from the classic world. It certainly looks the business. Park it in any auction car park next to Astons, Ferraris and old Bentleys and it certainly looks collectable. So when will it be featured in a Martin Buckley luxo-barge challenge? Must I wait another ten years before it gets the deserved recognition?

Meanwhile I shall be in the fast lane battling it out mano a mano with BMW 5s and Merc C classes. Messerschmidts and Focke Wulfs up against the plucky Spitfire. My Jag was made in the same West Bromwich factory, after all.

Not sure its styling ever worked for me - a bit Mitsuoka Viewt - although I have to admit it is growing on me as the years pass by, and I have on more than one occasion scoured the small ads for a 2.7 litre diesel.

However, even one of Jaguar's least-successful lookers is somehow more desirable than the thing Mercedes-Benz was making at the time (so dull I can't even remember it) or a flame-surfaced 5-series.

I've got a feeling, though, that in the years to come it will be the XF that will be sought after by old car buffs and it will be the S-type that will play second fiddle to it. In much the same way, I suppose, that the original S-Type is the (undeservedly) poor relation of the Mk2 in our day and age.

I saw a wonderous SS 2 or 3.5 Litre Jaguar, parked in the very spot vacated by my 13 year old mondeo, in our small town Saturday.

the leaping cat which along with the P100 lights was of passing interest to a couple of yoofs and me.

So if original that Mascot may have indicated a Post War Jaguar(they dropped the SS moniker) with still the Standard/Weslake engine, that and the Mark 5 that followed were considered spivs or wide boys cars in their heydays..

Whatever it was a wonderfully Patinad old car, parked so casually as if one would one's modern tin box.

My Dad had a Mark 7M Jaguar, which was 3 years my Junior, age wise, in the early 60s, but a bit of an old fashioned barge by then-and yet I clearly recall a gal at school accusing me of being posh,or even being a snob(it was'nt meant complimentarily whatever) because we owned a Bentley-and lived in a big house. William Lyons deliberately did'nt call his first XK engined saloon a mark 6 for that very reason-Bentley had a MK6! oh well.

To be fair a lot of cars up there in Norfolk when we moved there were still from the 40s 50s and even prewar-old clunker bangers. That is for folk that had cars.I think at a pinch it may have still been capable of outrunning the local Rozzers A/99 and A/110 Farinas, however despite being taught to drive in the thing, it was strictly off road, honest officer. If not my schooling may have beem good as it would have been Government aproved. I think it had a little handle(or was that the Mark 5)that wound the seat up and down, even my Mondeo has this bit elecric now. Certainly a Vanden Plas 1300 later owned by me had that handle deature but unlike the Mark 7(and both my Mondeos)fore and aft steering wheel adjustment. Basically at 10 around our drive or on dissused airfield I had to half stand to see over the dash and reach the pedals.

I owned a Mark 2 that wasnt actually considered as such a real Jaguar in certain quarters, being the V8250 type, circa 1968 and in the later manual variety, (mine was auto), would have overshadowed the 3.4 had Lyons released it, when the compact Jags were still being made-The Daimler went on a further year to the 340/380 slim bumper series. However even so the least valuable one remains the 240 six.

Imagine the Impact the Turner engined V8 Mark 10 prototype would have had, had a Daimler variant been introduced. Instead the rear end styling and IRS was tacked onto a Mark 2 with slim bumpers and an actual secondary lights(fog light) instead of a horn grill a la Mark 2. So why did Ford Jaguar show the Geoff Lawson retro themed SType, alongside a so called classic Mark 2 .

Wasnt the new SType the first Jaguar to use a Diesel too? I dont think the prestige Lincoln LX based on the same floorpan had such, as Americans arent exactly attuned to Derv, and just stuck with Fords 24 valve V6 and 32 Valve V8.

I would be happy if i decided to change my current Mondeo to an XType 2.1 V6, but then again looking at current S Type prices??? No real reason right now to make a change tho.

I really enjoyed your excursion through Jaguar history. I remember the Mk 2s or Baby Jaguars as they were known not being considered real Jaguars - like the Mk 7, 8 and 9. I still quietly yearn for a Mk 7 with the split screen and the sideboard of a dash. So imposing and beautiful. I'd love to see a collection of Sir William Lyon's envelopes on which he sketched these gorgeous beauties.

Yes Ford did publicise the Geoff Lawson S-Type in a shot with a Mk2, a rather unnecessary comparison. However the car does have its own engine - only Jaguar's 4th, the AJV8. Not as some suppose a Ford engine. It was all Jaguar and was exported to the States as the powerrain for a selection of US vehicles including if i am not mistaken the last Thunderbird and indeed some Mustangs. The gearbox, the 5R55N with which I am currently experiencing a problem, is a Ford unit however.

I have decided however that I shall remain true to my girl. No quick trade in for a Focke Wulf or Messerchmidt for me. I'm a Jaguar man now.

I have to say that a week into driving this new ZF gearbox, the S-Type is transformed. Such power and torque. It has never felt so good. I would recommend anyone with an early S-Type running the original French 5N55R to invest in the superior German box. The car feels as if it has had a penis extension. Makes you want to get back in there and give it another go.